Seven men accused of child abuse have received sentences in Bristol Crown Court totalling 107 years, with charges including the rape of a child under the age of 13.
David Harsley, Matthew Lisk, Christopher Knight, Adam Toms and Robin Hollyson pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a baby and young children, and Toms also admitted to drugging and raping a four year old child and Hollyson admitted to raping a baby.
Speaking on the case, Gregor McGill, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Organised Crime Division, said: “This case has exposed a horrific world that many would never have believed existed. These men had a shocking interest in sexually abusing young children, including raping a baby when only months old.
“This abuse was planned and calculated. They arranged the abuse when there was only a small amount of time to be alone with a baby or child, including when one of the men was trusted to be alone with unsuspecting parents. They would sometimes live stream the abuse via the dark web or Skype.
“Much of the evidence in this case was recovered using messaging on social networking websites and tracking of phones and cars putting the men at relevant locations at particular times.
“It’s hard to find the right words to describe this profoundly disturbing abuse but I hope today’s sentence will be of some very small comfort to the families of the children and sends a clear message to abusers and others tempted to become involved in this type of criminality.”
